What’s Happening:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s approximately 8,300 employees are responsible for managing affordable housing programs that serve millions of people nationwide, including children, veterans, seniors and persons with disabilities. The administration has asked HUD to cut its workforce by about half, with deep cuts in field offices nationwide and threatened reductions to programs and funding.
Staff and funding cuts to an already under-resourced HUD will reduce government efficiency, increase housing instability and homelessness (especially for low-income families and individuals), and worsen an already historic national affordable housing crisis.
On Monday, March 10, organizations and people all over the country are taking action to protect HUD and the affordable homes it makes possible. Join us!
Call Your Senators and Representatives!
Ask them to stop harmful cuts of HUD staff and funding! Large and thoughtless cuts will damage communities and worsen our national affordable housing crisis. Use the following talking points you can use, and feel free to add your own stories of lived experience!
- HUD staff and programs are essential to local affordable housing! Affordable housing providers need a fully-staffed and resourced HUD to ensure timely payments to landlords and vendors, inspect properties, work with landlords, and more. Less staff at HUD will result in longer housing waitlists, less efficient payment and procurement, and more uncertainty for private landlords who accept tenants with vouchers. In addition, rehabilitation and modernization of public housing units will slow down, as will the work of supporting local operations and protecting residents.
- HUD staff and funding cuts hurt our communities! Millions of people nationwide rely on HUD programs for housing and services, and on the work of thousands of hardworking local HUD employees. Large cuts to HUD staff will result in payment delays, inspection slowdowns and jeopardize the housing of people who currently use HUD programs and those who are on waitlists. Cuts to their homes and remaining on waitlists. The private market will not be able to keep up with housing demand. Low- and moderate-income residents will suffer first and hardest.
- HUD staff and funding cuts hurt local economies! Residents, local housing and community development agencies, landlords who accept Housing Choice Voucher tenants, developers, lenders, construction firms and many other business partners will be hurt by any slowdown or shutdown of HUD programs and services. In addition, thousands of HUD employees in field offices all over the country will be unemployed.
Want to find out how many people in your state and Congressional district are supported by federal housing programs, or how much money is allocated from specific federal subsidized housing programs in your state? Use this Federal Housing Funding Tracker to support your case.
Here’s How to Contact Your Members of Congress:
You can connect to any Capitol Hill office using the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. If you would rather call an office directly, you can typically find the number on your senator or representative’s website. When you call, a staff member will answer to take your message.
Not sure who your members of Congress are? You can find them using this website: http://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
National Sign-On Letter:
Don’t want to call your elected officials? Ask your organization to sign onto this national letter https://nlihc.quorum.us/campaign/111236/, or sign onto this individual one yourself: https://nlihc.quorum.us/campaign/109331/.